More than 100 people were lucky to walk away from a train crash in regional Victoria on Tuesday morning, after their Melbourne-bound train collided with a delivery van.
Emergency services were called to a collision between the V/Line train and delivery can at the intersection of Princes Hwy and Rollo Street in Yarragon, in the West Gippsland region about 120km east of Melbourne, at 8.20am on Tuesday.
Despite the van being ripped open in the crash – and aerial footage showing its contents sprawled across the railway crossing – a Victoria Police highway patrol officer Andy Milbourne said the driver was “lucky to escape with minor injuries” and was taken to hospital for assessment.
Sergeant Milbourne said the train was travelling at speeds 90 to 100km/h with “about 100 people on board heading to the football” when the incident happened.
“The train has sustained significant damage and V/Line operators are going to have to take a look at that,” he said, the ABC reports.
“In this case, it’s lucky (the van driver) wasn’t killed.”
No train passengers were injured in the crash and they boarded buses to continue their journey to Southern Cross station in Melbourne before 10am.
A V/Line spokesman thanked passengers for their patience following the crash, and told 7 News there were major delays on the Traralgon and Bairnsdale lines after the collision. Trains resumed shortly before midday.
But witnesses to the scene had choice criticisms of the van driver’s “stupidity” that allegedly caused the crash.
“I see this bloke basically trying to play chicken with the train, trying to cross the railway,” Karl Pesendorfer, a witness to the incident, told 7 News.
“I feel sorry for these train drivers … especially for someone’s stupidity.”
Mr Pesendorfer said it looked “like a bomb went off in the car” and that the incident could have been much worse.
“If there were any pedestrians within 15, 20m of that accident, they would have been hit by debris or even killed.”
Another witness said people attempted to warn the driver before the accident.
“They were all beeping their horn at him as well as the train, like the train had its horn on for like 20 seconds beforehand,” witness Sandy Lumber told 7 News.
She said the van driver has a “cut on his hand” and was “in shock”.
“More than anything, he was worried about his work … (because) he asked if he could call his boss, poor guy.”
V/Line has reportedly advised the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator and will conduct an investigation into the crash.
Detectives are investigating the circumstances surrounding the collision and are calling on anyone who saw the smash or had footage of it to contact Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000).